The gate thief /

The sequel to The Lost Gate (2010) finds teenager Danny North confronting the consequences of his actions at the end of that book. He's rendered the being formerly known as Loki virtually powerless, having taken most of Loki's gates wormholes in spacetime that link places that are separated by vast distances and created the Great Gate, allowing people to pass back and forth between Earth and Westil, the home world of the former gods now living on Earth as (mostly) ordinary people. But is Danny a hero, or has he opened a door that will allow an even more powerful being to slip through and reignite an ancient war that could wipe out humanity entirely? And can Danny really trust that the enemy he vanquished in The Lost Gate is now his willing ally? Familiarity with The Lost Gate is useful, but not essential, as Card gives readers enough background to have at least a partial understanding of the world he's created. Like the first book, this one's a bit talky in places, but it boasts defined characters and a highly imaginative story. For the author's fans, a must-read. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: As one of the biggrst names in science fiction, Card has a built-in audience clamoring for more.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

In this middling sequel to The Lost Gate, Card connects Egyptian myth with his "literalizing of Indo-European gods" to create Danny North, the 16-year-old incarnation of the messenger/trickster god Thoth-Mercury-Hermes-Loki. Danny masquerades as an ordinary teen but is the son of the Norse gods Odin and Gerd. He's just coming into his full powers as a gate mage when some of the old gods set out to kill him. He's also so filled with "innate goodness" that he can fend off all the hot girls who want him and subdue his own adolescent hormones. Naturally, he takes on the task of saving Earth and defeating the forces of evil through a heroic act that's devoid of real consequences. Card's afterword reveals his struggles with clarifying his unusual and highly complicated world-building, but only the most devoted readers will have sympathy for these creative problems. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Card weaves another in a chain of satisfying, teenager-pleasing fantasies. Ced, familiar to Card fans, is the kind of unpleasant supernatural being who can really drive down real estate values in the Shire--beg pardon, in Rockbridge County, Va. There, as Card's yarn opens, a young man is doing showoff-ish things, rocketing up a mile into the sky above Buena Vista and plummeting downward, up and down, up and down, on his own steam. These being the days of YouTube, it'll make the news--but high schooler Danny North, the son of Odin and Gerd and thus one of the junior gods ("Nobody called them gods anymore, but they were still around"), has bigger things in mind. But, Card adds amiably, "Some of the gods...were heading to Parry McCluer High School in order to find Danny North and kill him." And why? Well, Danny is a gatemage--and if you've read Card, you'll know that a gatemage is definitely something that'll get a war broiling in heaven. Card's not content just to call on the Norse pantheon; Egyptians and Greeks and Romans and every other sort of deity and demideity mixes it up here, with some nice results--Danny might be a "defiant little asshole," in the words of his gym teacher, but that's nothing compared to one tough chick who is "Clytemnestra and Medea rolled into one." Card has a grand old time romping around in the fields of comparative religion while letting a feud worthy of the Hatfields and the McCoys unfold, with much tongue-in-cheek humor but a touch of gore, too. And will the world remain safe for the Aesir? This fun, inventive tale holds the answer.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.